Although the present invention can be used with other materials, it will find its primary use as a device for removing snow.
A wide range of snow-removal devices already exist. They range from the relatively simple and inexpensive snow shovel through snow blowers and snowplows. At the one end of the spectrum, the snow shovel is simple and inexpensive and requires almost no maintenance. However, it quite often requires a great deal of energy to use, even on a small area. At the other end of the spectrum is the snowplow, which requires a fair degree of maintenance and is usually considered too expensive for private domestic use. Even a snow blower, which is often used for ordinary residential purposes, is somewhat expensive when the low frequency of use is considered. Accordingly, a need exists for a snow-removal device whose use does not require the amount of effort that a snow shovel demands but is relatively simple in construction and requires little maintenance.
This need has been identified in the past, and numerous solutions have been proposed. Most of the solutions achieve the desired results to an extent, but as the teachings of the present invention will show, further improvement is possible. An example of the attempts in the prior art to fill the gap between the snow shovel and the more complicated devices is illustrated in U.S. Pat. No. 3,475,838 to Hagen et al., in which a scoop-type device is illustrated with a handle for propelling the scoop into the snow and wheels for facilitating movement of the scoop along the ground. The device is relatively simple, and it provides a mechanical advantage by virtue of the lever arm provided by the handle to pivot the device around the axis of the wheels. It is not necessary with such devices to lift the snow to remove it, and when it is desired to empty the device, the user pushes up on the handle, employing the mechanical advantage to unload the snow. There is still some lifting of the snow to empty the scoop, but the mechanical advantage reduces the effort expended by the user. Furthermore, a larger amount of snow can typically be moved at one time than is possible with the ordinary snow shovel.
A number of devices in the prior art illustrate similar arrangements, an example being the one illustrated in U.S. Pat. No. 2,742,719 to Rabideau. It is possible with the device illustrated in Rabideau to almost completely eliminate the lifting requirement; the scoop is pushed into the snow to load it and then dragged in the disposal site. When it is desired to unload the device, a movable floor in the scoop is retracted in the manner of a roll-top desk, and the snow falls out. The Rabideau device would seem to reduce the amount of energy that the user must expend in snow removal, and the device is simple when compared to, say, a snow blower. However, it is thought that the device itself is somewhat heavy, and the roll-top-desk arrangement is certainly a complexity that the user may wish to avoid.
It is accordingly an object of the present invention to provide a snow-removal device that is relatively light in weight, requires a relatively small amount of force to empty, and is very simple in construction.